


Aftermath - 7 Months Out - The Drive In

by serendipityxxi



Series: The Void [15]
Category: Haven (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Popcorn, drive-in movies, fmm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:48:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23195002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serendipityxxi/pseuds/serendipityxxi
Summary: Date night at the drive-in!
Relationships: Duke Crocker/Audrey Parker/Nathan Wuornos
Series: The Void [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/605962
Comments: 23
Kudos: 38





	Aftermath - 7 Months Out - The Drive In

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks again to jadzibelle for all the handholding and editing this fic needed <3

Summer settles into Haven with a vengeance that year, all wet heat and manically beaming sun. People take to the beach and then swiftly retreat to the air-conditioned oases of the mall, the arcade, the bowling alley, the coffee shops, even Target. It is Maine after all, they’re more accustomed to warding off frostbite than sunburn. After dark the more adventurous scurry about in the cool evenings to have bonfires on the beach and to enjoy the newest attraction; the re-opened and officially sanctioned charity drive-in at Dockside Green.

\-----

When they arrive the attendant tells Nathan there’s no room for the Bronco so they park on the street and walk in, searching for Duke. There’s lots of chatter as they cross the grass. People still occasionally stop them, wanting to shake their hands, give their thanks. Even seven months later. 

Audrey still doesn’t know how word got around about who did what, but it’s Haven; the only thing they’re better at than secrets is gossip. Audrey is only too happy to pass the thanks over to Nathan. He blushes and stammers but is much more graceful about them than she is.

He’s distracted by just that so she’s the one who spots Duke first.

Duke’s taken the top off his Land Rover and dropped the tailgate down. He’s filled the bed of the truck with blankets, pillows, and in one corner a cooler that Audrey’s sure contains some form of alcohol or she’ll turn in her badge. She’s not entirely sure she doesn’t want to turn in her badge anyway. She’s probably going to get carpal tunnel by the end of the summer if she doesn’t, with the sheer amount of red tape FEMA and the rest of the alphabet soup want. You’d think it was _easy_ to fake a disaster or something from the ridiculous amount of documentation that’s needed.

She’s not sure how Duke got all that bedding here without most of it blowing away, but he’s sitting on top of his pile of blankets looking as smug as a dragon perched on a hoard of gold, forearms propped on his upraised knees, hands dangling loosely, surveying the village. 

Audrey nudges Nathan, points and Nathan grins slow and genuine.

Duke scrambles to his feet when he spots them.

“Permission to come aboard?” she calls.

Duke grins down at her from the tailgate and stretches out a hand.

“You’re late,” he scolds as he helps her climb up. His big hands close around her fingers with ease, warm and strong; she can feel the muscles in his arms shift as he pulls her up into the bed of the truck.

“Please, the movie’s still playing,” she teases, turning her face up for a kiss. Duke obliges with an eyeroll, but his lips are soft and welcoming. He smells expensive. He used the good cologne for this evening and his hair’s pulled back into a neater pony tail than her own. Audrey tugs lightly on the ends of it before she pulls away.

Nathan’s clambered up into the bed of the truck by that time. He stands surveying the nest Duke’s created with a frown.

“Is that my goose down comforter?” he complains.

“It is in fact as soft as an angel’s wings,” Duke agrees, with a smirk designed to make Nathan roll his eyes.

He doesn’t disappoint but he leans over and kisses Duke nevertheless, quick and easy, a hard-won habit.

“No shoes on the bedding,” Duke scolds Audrey as is their custom. She huffs in feigned annoyance but sits and undoes her boots before wading in her socks across the truck. There’s an air mattress under all of it. He really went all out for this evening. Audrey winces at the thought but there’s nothing to do for that but try again next time. She knows Duke understands but she also knows he’s disappointed. She hadn’t realized tonight was quite this important to him either.

She makes a show of plopping herself down in the mountain of pillows and rolls around on them, like a cat making a comfortable spot to be sure he knows she appreciates the effort. There’s enough bedding here she could probably swim in it. She settles her shoulders in and then arches an eyebrow at them. “I don’t think this is quite as soft as angel’s wings, maybe it’s as soft as bunnies, possibly softer than Larry Pickering’s alibi, but definitely not angel’s wings. Are you sure this is goose down and you didn’t get ripped off?” she teases Nathan.

Nathan rolls his eyes at her as he and Duke wobble across the nest. 

The light is all but faded from the sky, the long summer twilight lost to their lateness. The stars are glimmering into existence up there in the dark blue, not even the white glare of the enormous screen the high schoolers have constructed is enough to blot them out. All of the proceeds from the evening’s showing are going towards rebuilding the music room. Audrey hopes all the little band geeks know what a good job they’ve done.

Nathan’s bulk jostles her as he settles on her left. 

Duke hands out cold subs from the cooler, shrimp with avocado and spicy mayonnaise for Audrey, Nathan’s got ham and pineapple and cheese with honey mustard. Audrey’s surprised when Duke pulls out his own sub, roast beef with garlic aioli and grilled onions, his usual, then takes a seat next to Nathan.

“Aw, honey, you waited,” Nathan teases, elbowing Duke to get him to take one of the beers he’s holding.

“Seconds,” Duke toasts them with his sandwich before snagging the beer bottle. “I know better than to wait on you two workaholics,” he grumps.

Nathan smiles, slow and indulgent. He knows Duke waited to have dinner with them. Duke’s a surprisingly bad liar sometimes.

“He says that like it’s a bad thing,” Audrey tells Nathan in mocking tones.

Duke grumbles. Nathan smirks. He and Duke do their double tap toast and then they sit back, shoulder to shoulder in each other’s space without a thought for it, comfortable and habitual. It makes Audrey smile.

“Almost makes it worth forgetting to have dinner,” Nathan says after a few bites.

“How do you forget to eat?” Duke scolds.

Audrey shrugs, mouth full. 

“Were busy,” Nathan answers.

Duke heaves a put upon sigh. Audrey knows he doesn’t mean it though. Feeding them makes him feel useful, and important, so she’s not going to tell him about the half box of donuts she and Nathan finished between them earlier. Besides this is her favorite sub, from the deli on Euclid that she definitely wasn’t getting to before it closed two hours ago. 

She bumps Duke’s shoulder with her own. “So what are we watching?” she asks just to get him riled up again. She knows full well this is the ending to Goonies even if he hadn’t told them twice. 

“Audrey Parker,” Duke squawks, as expected. “Have you no shame?” he demands.

Audrey grins at him slow and sly and he realizes she’s yanking his chain. She leans over and kisses the scowl on his lips while Nathan chuckles bright and happy beside them. Audrey heckles the movie mostly to annoy Duke. Nathan and Duke tell her stories about hunting for treasure as kids in the caves off Haven’s beaches. They finish their subs and the cupcakes Duke surprises them with.

In the time it takes Audrey to finish her dinner she realizes she is mostly too tired to care about the movie. When the boys fall silent she tips her head up and finds the moon, full and white shining down on them. When’s the last time she took the time to really look at the night sky? She certainly can’t remember. Clouds scud across the velvety darkness, hiding and revealing stars at their whim. There’s an ache between her shoulders from sitting hunched over a desk all day that is slowly going away as her muscles unclench. Her eyes hurt from staring at the computer screen but the night is soothing when she’s not watching the brightly lit movie screen. The breeze sweeping across the lawn is cool and brings with it the scent of salt, the scent of home. Audrey zones out and before she knows it she’s waking up to the smell of popcorn and the noise of a large crowd of people talking.

“I was only resting my eyes!” she insists before she’s really even opened them.

She finds Duke smirking down at her. “Tell it to the string of drool right here, babe,” he says, swiping at a spot on his own chin. Audrey’s eyes go wide and she wipes her chin vigorously but it’s dry. There’s nothing there. She scowls at Duke who grins and takes the opportunity to lean in and kiss her softly, gently.

“You looked like you needed the rest,” he tells her when they pull apart. His eyes are soft with concern.

Audrey shrugs, feeling self-conscious. It’s apparently her week for waking everyone up in the middle of the night. Last night she snuck out of bed and channel surfed in the living room til it was late enough to start coffee. She didn’t think either of the boys had noticed but of course Duke, who sleeps like a cat, did. She knows Duke won’t push her to talk past that very subtle opening. He’ll wait til she wants to open up on her terms. She loves him for that.

And so she pats his hand and pushes up into a more upright sitting position. “I’m fine,” she tells him. “Just feeling the paperwork overdose,” she says and it’s mostly the truth. Her nightmares are old hat to them now, discussed and reassured over again and again. She’d feel foolish talking last night’s out, it’s nothing new. Besides this, going to boring, normal work, being here with her boys, being a part of their town, that’s already helping. 

“Where’d Nathan go?” she asks, peering around. The breeze sweeps in, cooler now as the night gets older, playing with her hair, dancing fingers down the back of her neck. She shivers and shifts over, right into Duke’s space. He wraps his arms around her, warm and so damn cozy in his old man sweater even in this weather, smelling of the good cologne and faintly of onions.

“Said he needed to stretch his legs,” Duke answers and there’s still that layer of pride in his tone that Nathan can feel things like that now. Audrey meets that proud grin with one of her own, shares in Duke’s smugness that Nathan can feel. Duke kisses her nose then sets about rearranging the old green plaid blanket for better coverage.

The movie’s over. Audrey’s forgotten what the second one is supposed to be. The crowd is moving around in the intermission. There’s a wide array of citizens, groups of teenagers yes, giggling and roughhousing obnoxiously, but there are a lot of adults too, whole families snuggled together with the light of the screen casting blue shadows on their faces. Audrey’s reminded of the pizza party after they took down Croatoan. The late night, the happy voices. The air had been thick with relief then. Tonight it’s lighter, careless. A little girl up way past her bedtime careens past the end of the truck, frazzled parents running behind her. No one is worried about the dark or even the Troubles tonight.

It’s a good feeling; normal. This is her town on a normal Friday night.

She spots Nathan a couple dozen feet away, he’s got two bags of popcorn in his hands and he gets maybe five steps between being stopped by townsfolk each time. They all want a word with their chief, some calling greetings, some complaints. The majority, though, are just glad to see him, he’s a reassuring presence. He takes his time with each person, exchanging a few words and Audrey knows he remembers their kids’ names, and who they’re married to and a dozen other things she’d be hopeless about. Nathan’s smile is genuine as he moves from person to person; this is his town, these are his people. He likes taking care of them.

Audrey rests her head against Duke’s shoulder, nudges him gently, nods towards Nathan.

“Think he’ll make it back before the popcorn goes cold?” she speculates.

“Think he’s going to make it back with popcorn?” Duke answers as they watch him narrowly avoid a collision with one of the teens in charge of the whole set up, the color high in her cheeks, embarrassment and indignation in the line of her shoulders.

Stacey? Tracey? Casey? Audrey can’t remember, but Nathan catches her by the arm and with a few words has her visibly calming down. She gestures a few times and Nathan says something in return then his gaze moves to the group of teens near the projector. He’s got his steely blue glower on, hand on his hip to show the badge that isn’t actually there because they’re off duty. Audrey shares a grin with Duke and she knows they’re both charmed by his Chief of Police posturing though they would never say it out loud. The pose works too because Nathan barely has time to say something else to Stacey before the boys by the projector notice his glare. They scatter like bowling pins in a strike. Audrey is ashamed of that comparison. They went glow in the dark bowling on their last date night. She still won’t admit it was fun.

Casey smiles relieved and grateful, hugs him and darts off- probably to get the second movie started, now that she’s no longer being harassed, and Nathan makes it the last few feet to their nest of bedding.

Audrey flips the blanket back for Nathan, shifts to let Duke stretch and take the popcorn from him while he’s busy kicking his boots off.

“Nice work, Chief,” Duke teases with a nod toward the projection booth.

Nathan rolls his eyes at him settling into the spot and now Audrey’s resting more on her boys than on the pillows.

“Lacey Clark,” Nathan jerks his chin at the girl, “Jackie Clark’s cousin.”

Audrey turns, eyebrows raised to find a small grin playing across Nathan’s lips. “Small world,” is all she says but she grins at him too. Nathan licks his lips and meets Duke’s gaze over her head. Audrey glances up and Duke’s got the same smug grin.

They did good. They’ve done good. They saved their town. Lacey Clark will never have to worry about having her Trouble triggered. No one will be setting anything on fire with their mind tonight, unlike the last time they were at the drive-in.

The sudden trumpet of the universal studios theme startles them all. They settle in to watch the movie, the quiet murmur of their town around them. They eat popcorn, fingers brushing in the bags like some cheap teenage date. When Audrey makes a joke about that, Duke fake yawns and uses the stretch to wrap his arm around Nathan’s shoulder then very obviously cops a feel of Nathan’s pec making them all laugh. Duke leaves his arm around Nathan though, and Nathan lets him. His fingers spend most of the movie scratching lightly through the short hairs at the nape of Nathan’s neck, making him shiver occasionally.

When the popcorn is done Audrey lays her head on Duke's shoulder, threads her still buttery fingers through Nathan's and lets her eyelids droop shut. No one is going to interrupt their movie to ask her to cure a Trouble in their backseat tonight. The worst is over. They get to enjoy nights like this now. _Normal_ nights. She settles in to savor it while she can, after all, she reminds herself as she's been doing for months - she's bound to get tired of normal eventually.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed the fic. If you've got a fav part I'd love to hear about it. :)


End file.
